


should be enough (not to run away)

by LiveLaughLovex



Series: dare to dance [3]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Post-Episode: s10e02 Kuipeia E Ka Makani Apaa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-06
Updated: 2019-10-06
Packaged: 2020-11-25 19:15:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20917175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiveLaughLovex/pseuds/LiveLaughLovex
Summary: Of course Steve's not backing down when it comes to Cullen, Kono muses exasperatedly. He wouldn't be Steve if he did.





	should be enough (not to run away)

**Author's Note:**

> We may stumble and fall but rise again; it should be enough if we did not run away from the battle. - Mahatma Gandhi

There were moments when it really hit Kono that pretty much everybody she hung out with was in law enforcement. Like, for instance, when she received a call from Steve that Junior had a concussion from plummeting back into a tunnel after it collapsed less than six hours after the McGarrett home had nearly been blown up by a revenge-seeking criminal.

“You’re not smelling gasoline, are you?” Kono checked, taking a sip of her beer. “Because if you’re smelling gasoline, we might need to head to the hospital.”

“I’m not smelling gasoline,” Junior assured her amusedly.

“What does gasoline have to do with anything?” Steve questioned, using a spatula to remove several of the burgers from the grill and stack them on a plate.

“Smelling weird things is a sign of seizures, apparently,” Kono replied. “What? I watch a lot of late-night reruns,” she defended when Steve and Danny both shot her incredulous looks.

“You should be sleeping,” Danny reprimanded.

“I do,” she promised. “My hours don’t always mean sleep happens during the day, that’s all.” She looked down at Eddie, smiling wryly. “He’s really enjoying that steak, huh?”

“Yeah,” Danny sighed. “He better.”

“Hey, he selflessly rescued a lot of people,” Tani defended yet again. “He’s earned at least a dozen of those.”

“That would get expensive.” Kono leaned down to pat the dog on the head. “But you enjoy every morsel of that, buddy.”

Conversation fell to the wayside soon after while they plated their food, but it picked back up once everyone had reclaimed their seats and begun to eat. Kono honestly couldn’t remember the last time she’d laughed quite so hard. It was nice to feel that way, like herself, after being so distant from who she was for so long.

“Hey,” Steve said several hours later, when they were the only two left in the backyard. Everyone else had left minutes earlier. “You don’t have to help clean up.”

“Helped make the mess,” Kono pointed out, tying off the full trash bag and tossing it into a nearby can. “And I had an ulterior motive behind staying. Do you know what you’re doing about Cullen? Because it’s serious now, Steve.”

“It is,” he agreed. “And I’ll figure out what I’m doing. Soon.”

“He knows where you live,” Kono reminded him. “Maybe you and Eddie should stay somewhere else for a few days, a week. Just until you’ve got things more under control. I’ve got a guest room; you are more than welcome to it.”

“Thank you for the offer, but I’m not running from this. He doesn’t scare me, and I’m not going to make him feel like he does.”

“Of course you’re not, because that would be the sane thing.” Kono sighed when he simply shrugged. “You make it really hard not to worry about you, you know that?”

“Says the girl who nearly got herself blown up three times in as many months while she was on the mainland,” Steve fired back amusedly.

“So neither one of us is sane,” Kono acquiesced. “I don’t know if that’s any better.”

“Eh,” Steve shrugged. “Sanity’s overrated anyway.”

“Sure,” Kono agreed sarcastically, reaching over to pat him on the shoulder. “Whatever you need to tell yourself.”

**Author's Note:**

> This was significantly shorter than the others for two reasons: a) it's two in the morning, and b) I feel there's going to be a lot about Cullen addressed as the season goes on, so I don't want to focus so heavily on it just yet. I hope you enjoyed it anyway!


End file.
